Tivy High School is launching a new leadership initiative for student athletes. The program was announced at an informational luncheon Friday, August 9.
The program, titled “TFND Standing TALL,” is centered around two acronyms: Tivy Fight Never Dies (TFND) and Tivy Athletic Leaders Leading (TALL) which describe its overall goal of building leadership skills among student athletes.
The program will include a group of high school students who will develop a course-of-action to “deliver the TFND message to all KISD students” as Assistant Tivy Football Coach Austin Galifaro puts it.
The group will then travel to schools within the district to instill the spirit of Tivy Fight Never Dies into prospective student athletes before they join Tivy Athletics. Participating highschoolers will also develop an accountability plan to ensure success and maintain responsibility.
To get a clearer understanding of what leadership principles should be emphasized in the program’s curriculum, community members with a connection to Tivy Athletics were invited to an informational luncheon.
With the promise of fajitas, current and alumni athletes, as well as KISD coaches of the past and present, gathered in the Tivy cafeteria to discuss what TFND means to them. These stakeholders were welcomed with a meal and a call-to-action to participate in instilling the spirit of Tivy Fight Never Dies into prospective student athletes.
Galifaro describes what inspired the program’s creation: “We’re trying to find ways to bring back significant stakeholders in Tivy Athletics to teach the new generation of athletes what TFND means and how their experience affected them.”
Shedding a perspective on Tivy Girls’ athletics, basketball coach Christy Dill explained to the crowd how she defines TFND to her athletes.
“For us, TFND has three major meanings. Doing what’s difficult. Doing it to the best of our ability, and lastly, doing it even when you don’t feel like it.” explains Dill.
TFND Standing TALL will aim to provide speeches and testimony to future student athletes with the goal of inspiring strong leaders. Attendees of the luncheon were encouraged to sign up to volunteer testimony on their own experiences and interpretations of TFND.
Dill reiterates the program’s mission in her own words, “The goal is to keep TFND a lifestyle, not just a logo on a shirt.”
Galifaro, who is tasked with shaping the curriculum, sees the program growing to include rotations between all the different sports offered at Tivy, providing a diverse perspective on what leadership in athletics can look like.
The program is in its beginning stages of development and stakeholders of Tivy Athletics can expect future meetings involving the program’s construction.